Random Ruminations on a Financial Crisis

Now way back when the Soviet empire collapsed and there was general rejoicing at the end of a discredited communism, I will claim that I thought a comeuppance with our capitalist system was probably also coming. The only question to my mind was when…

I’ve long been confused by those who seemed to have a mystical trust in an unseen hand that would correct all problems of the market and who deeply felt less is more in regard to various governmental regulation. And worked for that decoupling of governmental regulation and the markets. And this sure looked stupid to me. If communism was a headlong rush into a collectivism without regard for the profound human need for individual expression and opportunity, it seemed equally obvious to me that capitalism unrestrained was a headlong rush into an atomic individualism ignoring the human need for cooperation and relatedness…

Each impulse contained a truth about human need. And each, without taking into account the other, birthed monsters.

Well, our monster has awakened.

An economic system driven by greed and fear is going to lurch between unrestrained grasping and fierce withdrawal. 

It seems obvious to me that our American capitalism has been relentlessly overtaking any sense of the communal. When people say the system requires the most self-centered advancement without regard for others, and that if you feel bad about it, put some money in a good cause, but whatever, keep your good intentions away from your business: what can a person expect but that cycle of grasping and withholding?

And all the while the communal infrastructure crumbles. And not just bridges. But roads. And public education. (Who says money coupled with clear accountability won’t fix almost every problem facing public education?) And healthcare. (Why are we the only industrialized country that doesn’t have national health care?) 

So, yesterday the market climbed almost a thousand points. This following astonishing declines. These times make sensible heads spin…

Is there a realistic humanistic economic perspective?

Something that allows for creativity and individualism and knows that deep down we’re all in this together and what is done to the least among us, is done to all?

Me, I’m a silly optimist.

I think such voices are there.

We just need to let them speak.

And to listen when they do…